Unit Name: King Christian Formation
Unit Type: Lithostratigraphic
Rank: Formation
Status: Formal
Usage: Currently in use
Age Interval: Early Jurassic (199.6 - 175.6 ma)
Age Justification: Biostratigraphy and stratigraphic relationship: Early and Late Sinemurian ammonites have been collected from the formation. The upper portion of the formation is laterally equivalent to the basal strata of the Jameson Bay Formation, which is Late Pliensbachian in age.
Province/Territory: Northwest Territories; Nunavut

Originator: Embry, 1983a

Type Locality:
The type section is in the Sun Skybattle Bay C-15 well, were the formation is 66 m thick.

Distribution:
The King Christian is thickest on western Ellef Ringnes Island. Westward the formation thins by facies change to shale and siltstone (Lougheed Island Formation) and ends at a poorly defined shale-out edge between Lougheed and Mackenzie King islands.

Locality Data:
WELL 300C157720105000; SKYBATTLE BAY C-15. Thickness(m): Maximum 180. Interval(m): From 1932, To 1998.

Lithology:
"East of Lougheed Island the King Christian Formation consists of a lower interval of interbedded, very fine- to fine-grained sandstone, siltstone and shale, arranged in coarsening-upward cycles; a middle interval of fine- to coarse-grained sandstone with thin intervals of carbonaceous siltstone, shale and coal; and an upper interval of fine- to coarse-grained sandstone which is commonly pebbly and glauconitic. The sandstones are quartzose with chert being the dominant pebble type. Quartz, calcite, and clay cements occur throughout, and sideritic cement is common in the uppermost portion of the formation." (Embry, 1983a)

Relationship:
Within the western Sverdrup Basin, Embry (1983a) noted that the Heiberg Formation was divisible into five definable units which he formally described, elevating the Heiberg Formation to group status in the western portion of the basin. The five units include the Skybattle, Grosvenor Island, Maclean Strait, Lougheed Island and King Christian formations. The King Christian conformably overlies the Lougheed Island Formation. It is overlain by the Jameson Bay Formation, and this upper contact is generally conformable, except on the southwest basin margin where the contact becomes unconformable. On Lougheed Island and westward, the King Christian Formation is subdivided into three formal member; the Drake Point, Stupart and Whitefish.

History:
The King Christian Formation, as established by Embry (1983a), is synonymous with the following units from previous publications: - The Borden Island Formation (Stott, 1969). - Upper portion of the cyclic sandstone-siltstone unit, Borden Island Formation (Douglas, 1977; Douglas and Oliver, 1979). - King Christian sand (Henao-Londono, 1977). - The upper portion of the Heiberg Formation (upper member) - Borden Island Formation (undivided) (Balkwill and Roy, 1977; Balkwill et al., 1982). The formation is named after the King Christian Island, which lies 100 km northwest of the C-15 well.

References:
Balkwill, H.R. and Roy, K.J., 1977. Geology of King Christian Island, District of Franklin; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 386, 28 p. + "A" Series Map 1445A, Geology of King Christian Island, District of Franklin, Scale: 1:125 000.
Balkwill, H.R., Hopkins, W.S. Jr., and Wall, J.H. 1982. Geology, Lougheed Island, District of Franklin; Geological Survey of Canada, Memoir 388.
Douglas, T.R., and Oliver, T.A., 1979, Environments of deposition of the Borden Island Gas Zone in the subsurface of the Sabine Peninsula area, Melville Island, Arctic Archipelago; Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, v. 27, p. 189-217.
Douglas, T.R., 1977. Environments of deposition of the Borden Island gas zone in the subsurface of the Sabine Peninsula area, Melville Island, Arctic Archipelago: Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis, University of Calgary, 181 p.
Embry, A.F. 1983a. The Heiberg Group, western Sverdrup Basin, Arctic Islands; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 83-1B, pp. 381-389.
Henao-Londono, Diego, 1977. Correlation of producing formations in the Sverdrup Basin; Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists (CSPG), Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, vol. 25, no. 5 (September), pp. 969-980.
Stott, D.F., 1969. Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Geological Survey of Canada, Paper 68-16, 44 p.

Source: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF CANADA, CALGARY
Contributor: G.E. McCune
Entry Reviewed: No
Name Set: Lithostratigraphic Lexicon
LastChange: 14 Dec 2009